Duke Energy is urged to close more than 100 North Carolina coal ash dumps

Proposed Senate legislation may require Duke Energy to excavate and reseal all of its coal ash basins in the state. In the wake of a breach that contaminated a 70-mile stretch of the Dan River, a handful of key legislators have drafted a bill that would mandate the closing of more than one-hundred ash dumps. About a dozen of the sites lie near power plants in Goldsboro and Wilmington. Currently, the bill also requires the toxic ash be re-buried in sealed landfills within the next fifteen years. According to Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brookes, the endeavor would cost no more than ten billion dollars over a thirty-year timeframe.

“If you were to excavate all the basins in North Carolina, it would be about 8 billion dollars. If you were to use a combination of those, it’d certainly be less.”

Other methods of disposal include recycling the ash or reusing it as a structural foundation, as had been done at the Asheville Regional Airport.